Military parents just a phone card away

Gretchen Sheppard can easily identify with children who want to get in touch with their parents serving in the military this holiday season.

The Lincoln Elementary School parent, who recently spearheaded a drive to buy phone cards for schoolchildren at Camp Pendleton, has a sister-in-law serving in the Army in Iraq. The family rarely knows her whereabouts, and Sheppard sometimes has difficulty explaining the situation to her 6-year-old son.

“He sees it on TV and he says, ‘People are dying,’ ” she said. “So I say, ‘Well, yes, people are dying, but hopefully, auntie will be safe.’ ”

This month, Sheppard and her son, Campbell, did their part to connect others to their kin serving in uniform. With the help of other members of the school’s PTA, the elder Sheppard amassed more than $1,400 from Lincoln families to provide phone cards to students at San Onofre School, located on the Marine base. Earlier this month, first-grader Campbell had the honor of accompanying his mother to the school and presenting a giant card signed by hundreds of Lincoln students.

In April 2003, a month after the invasion of Iraq, Lincoln started an annual tradition of benefiting the families at San Onofre. Parent Suzanne Woods, the PTA president, organized a drive to send Beanie Babies to all the students at the school — along with a Carl’s Jr. truck that dispensed hamburgers and soda.

Since then, Lincoln has made its military outreach into a holiday tradition.

One year, the PTA raised money to buy holiday-themed videos for San Onofre children; the last two years, the parents have opted for phone cards instead.

Whatever the item of choice, Woods said she wanted to introduce Lincoln students to philanthropy at a young age.

“It feels so small, but at the same time, there’s that old saying — a journey starts with one step,” she said. “I enjoy trying to expose our kids to community efforts. I think it’s really important to give back.”